Magical thinking about Amnesty

With amnesty, we will wave the magic wand, and suddenly new low-wage workers will appear, along with new mouths for Nanny State to feed. That's sure to boost incomes and lower the deficit.Surely, the party of fiscal responsibility wouldn't support such a self-destructive policy, would they? Oddly, some creative Republicans are arguing that "[l]egalizing undocumented immigrants will make them pay more taxes, earn higher wages and bring an underground demographic of workers into the official American economy."

It is quite common for conservatives, and liberals who want to sound responsible, to claim that immigration is needed for economic regeneration. This argument is an extreme absurdity. If immigrants boosted the tax base, then California would be the most successful state in the nation. California would be looking at budget surpluses that would be the envy of the nation.

Instead, California is living proof of the harmful economic impact caused by mass immigration. Over the last two decades, California grew by 10 million new people, but gained only 150,000 new taxpayers. As a study by a team of economic and public policy professors found, "From the mid-1980s to 2005, California's population grew by 10 million, while Medicaid recipients soared by seven million; tax filers paying income taxes rose by just 150,000; and the prison population swelled by 115,000." This is the make-up of a demographic and economic catastrophe, and it is the open borders Republican model for the rest of the nation.

People will be inclined to blame California's liberalism as the key factor, but that is a dodge. California was once a red state. From '52 to '88, Republicans won California in every presidential election, aside from Barry Goldwater's loss in '64. In 1994, Proposition 187 passed by a 59-41% margin. California was a reliably Republican state in presidential elections until '92. Hippies didn't cause that change. When you look at a graph showing Hispanic population growth, and then look at when Republicans started losing California, it all makes sense. Hispanics supported the Golden State's leftward lurch, or -at the very least- did nothing to stop it. Why Republicans would expect Hispanics in any other part of the nation to vote differently is a mystery. The pro amnesty Republican is expecting an outcome that has no basis in the experience of American states, or in the experience of contemporary immigrants to Western Europe. Nonetheless, the pro amnesty Republicans are preparing to mimic the immigration policy of left-wing, race baiting Democrats like Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.). Rep. Gutierrez makes the same phony economic argument, that "you increase tax dollars to the federal registry" by ignoring immigration law.

The pro amnesty GOP elite are literally taking the side of pro amnesty Democrats, whose interest in amnesty is that it will increase their dependent client base. Democrats are positive that amnesty will redound to their benefit, and many in the GOP are using their powers of foresight to ensure that Democrats gain that advantage. Republicans like Senator Lindsay Graham obviously haven't heard enough from their constituents yet.

With amnesty, we will wave the magic wand, and suddenly new low-wage workers will appear, along with new mouths for Nanny State to feed. That's sure to boost incomes and lower the deficit.

Surely, the party of fiscal responsibility wouldn't support such a self-destructive policy, would they? Oddly, some creative Republicans are arguing that "[l]egalizing undocumented immigrants will make them pay more taxes, earn higher wages and bring an underground demographic of workers into the official American economy."

It is quite common for conservatives, and liberals who want to sound responsible, to claim that immigration is needed for economic regeneration. This argument is an extreme absurdity. If immigrants boosted the tax base, then California would be the most successful state in the nation. California would be looking at budget surpluses that would be the envy of the nation.

Instead, California is living proof of the harmful economic impact caused by mass immigration. Over the last two decades, California grew by 10 million new people, but gained only 150,000 new taxpayers. As a study by a team of economic and public policy professors found, "From the mid-1980s to 2005, California's population grew by 10 million, while Medicaid recipients soared by seven million; tax filers paying income taxes rose by just 150,000; and the prison population swelled by 115,000." This is the make-up of a demographic and economic catastrophe, and it is the open borders Republican model for the rest of the nation.

People will be inclined to blame California's liberalism as the key factor, but that is a dodge. California was once a red state. From '52 to '88, Republicans won California in every presidential election, aside from Barry Goldwater's loss in '64. In 1994, Proposition 187 passed by a 59-41% margin. California was a reliably Republican state in presidential elections until '92. Hippies didn't cause that change. When you look at a graph showing Hispanic population growth, and then look at when Republicans started losing California, it all makes sense. Hispanics supported the Golden State's leftward lurch, or -at the very least- did nothing to stop it. Why Republicans would expect Hispanics in any other part of the nation to vote differently is a mystery. The pro amnesty Republican is expecting an outcome that has no basis in the experience of American states, or in the experience of contemporary immigrants to Western Europe. Nonetheless, the pro amnesty Republicans are preparing to mimic the immigration policy of left-wing, race baiting Democrats like Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.). Rep. Gutierrez makes the same phony economic argument, that "you increase tax dollars to the federal registry" by ignoring immigration law.

The pro amnesty GOP elite are literally taking the side of pro amnesty Democrats, whose interest in amnesty is that it will increase their dependent client base. Democrats are positive that amnesty will redound to their benefit, and many in the GOP are using their powers of foresight to ensure that Democrats gain that advantage. Republicans like Senator Lindsay Graham obviously haven't heard enough from their constituents yet.